


Dear Earthgirl. Love, Spacegirl

by Eightpoundsofhair



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe- Astronauts, F/F, Fluff, Is that a tag??, Light Angst, Songfic, idk but thats the au, the lightest of light angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:00:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29438649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eightpoundsofhair/pseuds/Eightpoundsofhair
Summary: Dear Earthgirl,I know this is the last thing you would like to hear from me right now but I don’t want you to get your hopes up. So I’ll start things off bluntly; you’re crazy if you think you’re gonna see me again.When Lapis’s spaceship malfunctions and crashes to Earth she has only one hope: to not die on the planet. Her wish is granted and then some when a college student local to the crash sight pulls her out of the rubble.
Relationships: Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	1. Dear Earthgirl,

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was not at all subtly based on two songs- Lightyears! by Kinneret and Space Girl by Frances Forever. As I was driving to work one day Space Girl was instantly followed by Lightyears! and I thought they made a charming love story when put together. Give them a listen if you want! They’re pretty cool.  
> This chapter (Lapis's chapter) is based more on Lightyears! whereas Peridot's chapter will be Space Girl

> Dear Earthgirl,
> 
> I know this is the last thing you would like to hear from me right now but I don’t want you to get your hopes up. So I’ll start things off bluntly; you’re crazy if you think you’re gonna see me again. 
> 
> But now that that’s said there is an equally important matter. I am sorry. I really, really am. I swear I never meant to leave you so abruptly. They finished early and it was leave or be left. I couldn’t stay. Please understand.
> 
> We have already left Earth’s orbit, I can’t know how far I’ll be by the time you read this. I hope any consultation can come from my ensuring you that I am sending the stars your warm regards. 
> 
> I really am sorry I left without saying goodbye and I’m also sorry that letters will inevitably be sparse. I’ll miss you and write when I can. I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors (aside from your trying to make me come back).
> 
> Sincerely, Spacegirl. 

**

Spacegirl met Earthgirl under unfortunate and unplanned circumstances. 

An unaccounted for overuse of coolant had resulted in an overheated engine which had resulted in a totally malfunctioning engine and within a short span of half an hour they went from fine to performing an emergency landing. 

They had tried to aim for the sea of Earth, miraculously the closest planet to them currently, but a malfunctioning engine led to many unexpected changes and soon they were hurtling towards land at a massive speed. 

Lapis had spent that half an hour frantically scrambling with the rest of the team, trying to correct the skew in their faling, settling, when that failed, for tossing cargo off, utilizing all of their parachutes, anything she could to try and brace the fall. But eventually there was nothing left she could do but strap herself to the wall and hope for the best. She did not want to die on Earth. 

Earthgirl found them quickly after they landed. Or, well, “landed”.

Lapis was dazed, heavily concussed, and significantly bruised up, but, miraculously, alive. She had done it. She had managed to avoid death on Earth. 

The pretty little blonde girl that helped her out of the rubble of the somewhat held together ship quickly became known to her as Peridot but at the time all she had managed was a shaky and confused “Earthgirl?”

Earthgirl had only laughed, a pretty sound, with a gentle nod, “Let me get you out of the rubble, Spacegirl,”

Lapis didn’t remember much else other than that. 

**

> Dear Earthgirl,
> 
> I’m sorry that this message is late; we are already lightyears away. Well, maybe not actually but we have been making remarkable pace. I wish we couldfly lightyears away. Although it would be much harder to send these notes that way. 
> 
> The stars are as pretty as ever, in any sense. I’m sure you’ll be as happy to hear it as I am to report it. I do admit the charm of it loses its rapture (a good thing I think, I would never get anything done otherwise) but I do find myself caught up in it in the slow moments. Staring out a window with so much around, Earth so far below me, it’s overwhelming. It’s always hard to believe when I really let myself take it in that I could ever do anything else while I’m up here. I’ll try to send a picture if I can. Not sure how well it would work through regular old email. Very sure no camera could capture the real beauty of it. I hope you like it anyway. 
> 
> Warm regardless,
> 
> Spacegirl

**

Earthgirl was a medical student at a college thirty minutes from the crash site, which Lapis learned as she sat dazed and confused on her couch not long after the crash. Which proved helpful enough for her, just concussed and bruised, although not enough for her teammates. 

They were all alive, and all would be fine in time, but Lapis had by far been the luckiest. While the others were a bit more than rough around the edges Lapis had managed to get out without any broken bones or severe cuts. And consequently she had been the only one deemed okay enough to stay out of the hospital. 

Although Earthgirl seemed to disagree. 

She grumbled and cursed the EMTs who had left her as she brought Lapis to her home, nearly a mile away at the edge of the woods, a far walk for a concussed and confused girl, and promptly wrapped her cuts, iced her bruises, tested her vision, her memory. 

Lapis was still too woozy to agree or disagree with her having been left. Was still too woozy to do anything aside from watching as this pretty girl doted after her. She found herself smiling dumbly through most of it, despite how poorly she was quickly realizing she felt. 

**

> Dear Earthgirl,
> 
> I don’t really like them. Not like I used to. It’s proving problematic. 
> 
> It’s been bubbling for a while but today was the first real instance of any sort of fight. Mark blamed it on you, as if that makes any sense. He said he wants to go home. Back to Earth. Permanently. All while somehow trying to blame my staying with you for his feeling that way. A few others agreed, though. About going home. I’m not sure what to think of it. 
> 
> It's frustrating; we had been friends before, or kind of anyway, and this time around things are tense. Like worse than even the worst days before. They’re mad at me for having stayed with you, mad at me for having not been all that hurt, mad at me for not letting them delay repairing the ship longer initially, mad at me for existing it seems. I suppose it’s a good thing that I am second in command so that they don’t try anything too crazy. 
> 
> Maybe I’ll drop them off, steal the ship and fly light years away for real 
> 
> Yours, Spacegirl

**

While the crew was recovering there was little Lapis could do on her own. 

She did as much as she could, after she was mostly back to normal, collecting parts from the wreckage, rummaging for salvageable items, ordering new shipments from the base across the country, but without everyone else she really could do little more. It wasn’t as if she could build the ship herself and it doubly wasn’t as if she could leave on her own if she did manage to build it. Even if she would have liked to. 

So, to her disappointment, she was trapped on Earth for the foreseeable future. 

But she supposed there was an upside; Earthgirl. From the second Lapis was coherent enough to thank her she had insisted Lapis stay with her until she left, insisted on the name ‘Earthgirl’ even when Lapis had learned her real name, Peridot, insisted Lapis tell her about space, about the crew, about the ship. 

At first Lapis had tried to be begrudging, do no more than thank her wholeheartedly for helping her work off her concision, for providing a couch to sleep on and a dark room to rest in, but Earthgirl, Lapis quickly realized, was nothing if not insisting. So she gave in. And perhaps it helped that she was, maybe, a little cute, the first human Lapis had seen in years who she was at all attracted to, but in the end it didn’t matter what it was. Lapis liked to talk about space, Earthgirl liked to listen. And ultimately, while she had tried to insist that she should work as much as she could, should get a hotel or even camp at the crash site, it didn’t take long for charming, insistent little Earthgirl to convince her otherwise.

They spent most of their days flittering about her home talking. Earthgirl with stars in her eyes, matching the star print blankets on her bed, the glow in the dark stars on the ceilings, the pretty star string lights on the walls, Lapis with some of the first real smiles she had given since she and her crew left in the first place. 

Earthgirl told Lapis how she had always loved space, had wanted for a good part of her life to be an astronaut herself, but a mix of nearsightedness and asthma, among a few other general health conditions, had made such a dream impossible. Lapis had felt bad for her but when she soon began helping her with her schoolwork, allowing her to take her pulse, test her blood pressure, or when she simply held flash cards for her, she found that pleasant little Earthgirl didn’t mind much anymore. She loved medicine almost as much as she loved the stars. 

But still, in the late evenings when Earthgirl had retired from her schoolwork and Lapis had retired from digging through the remains of the ship, she still cuddled into Lapis’s side, asking desperately for stories of the stars. 

Lapis normally wouldn’t have been able to handle conversations so repetitive but Earthgirl’s interest was charming, and Lapis’s own love for the topic made conversation easy, and they spent countless hours sat on her bed, wrapped under her star covered blankets talking about the eons. It was pleasant, warm, and Lapis felt as if she was glowing the same dim shade of yellow as the little star lights hung in Peridot’s bedroom when she smiled up at her, insisting still on the name Earthgirl. 

**

> Dear Earthgirl,
> 
> Everything looks so much nicer from afar, it’s all that’s keeping me together right now. 
> 
> Everything is falling apart. We keep fighting, daily, over everything and anything and the more time that passes the more the crew wants to give up and go home. I keep telling them that HQ wouldn’t even authorize that, that they’ll just be fired and replaced, but it keeps coming up. It seems Earth got the best of them. They still act as if it’s all my fault. I hate it. 
> 
> The only thing that makes it tolerable, the only reason why simply having to be with them isn’t making me want to give up, is the stars. In those moments I think of you, rush off from the rest and plop myself in a window to simply look. I still don’t know how to quite properly describe it, to be honest. But I’ll humor you and try it again. 
> 
> It’s so bright, a million shining little lights, so small individually but building up in clusters into the most impressive, bustling light shows I have ever seen. It’s overwhelming, honestly. But it makes the bickering worth it. At least I still have the appreciation they have all somehow lost. It makes me wish you were here, seeing how excited you got over something as small as string lights or glow in the dark star stickers. Those string lights in your room have nothing on the real stars. You would love it here. I wish it was you with me instead of them. 
> 
> Missing you, Spacegirl

**

As progress on the ship started, everyone collected from the hospital and more or less able to work, Lapis knew that it was only a matter of time before she would have to leave Earth. She was excited, finally she was on her way toward heading out again, finally she was leaving Earth, but for the first time in her career there was a sort of bittersweet feeling about it. As her time on Earth began to approach its end so too did her time with Earthgirl. 

But even knowing that didn’t stop Earthgirl’s enthusiasm. She insisted on coming to watch work on the ship, even when it wasn’t technically allowed, and still insisted Lapis stay with her, even if the rest of the crew was camping on sight now that they were all well and working. And while Lapis should have said no, while her crew was more than mad at her when she brought her along and left with her in the evenings, she couldn’t.

Earthgirl was charming and enthusiastic and incredible in a way that Lapis hadn’t experienced in years. A person who held so much life in their arms, who had such a marveled way of looking at things. A person who was genuine and kind and wholly mesmerized by the same thing Lapis was. Who could speak with her about space and planets and galaxies too far away to imagine with just as much rapport and wonder as herself. A person who Lapis liked. A friend. Her first real one of those since she left Earth. Since long before then. 

So despite the angry looks and the constant muttered back talking Lapis let Earthgirl come along. Let her skip in with her hands held high and a smile upon her face. The cheery call of ‘Good morning!’ she brought so un-subtle that the crew could not ignore her like she could tell they wanted to. Although Lapis found, in those moments, that she didn’t mind the glares they gave her. Getting to see Earthgirl so excited made anything they threw her way worth it. When Earthgirl smiled nothing could touch her. 

But, of course, the situation wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Walking nearly a mile through the woods before the sun rose every morning and being sent particular potent glares when she had finally arrived was growing old fast. Realizing suddenly, as it started, that the crew and her didn’t really get along, hadn’t for a while now, wasn’t exactly fun. And even when all of that, she had decided from the beginning, was more than worth it there was still the worst part of all; she would have to leave. Leave her. Earthgirl. Soon, now that all hands, and an extra set, were working on repairs.

She shook it off with a blunt little reminder to herself; she wouldn’t be dying on Earth. She wouldn’t be staying on Earth. No matter any silly little crushes she may have developed. Instead she refocused her efforts, wrote off these silly little cons for what they were; distractions which did nothing asides from leave Lapis tense as she tightened bolts and ordered extra stock of coolant. And besides, she often reminded herself, they would all be forgotten, at least temporarily, the second the sun dipped down below the horizon.

Because usually within an hour of then the captain would call the evening with promises of a long overdue dinner and Lapis, smiling despite the angry stares, would let herself be pulled away. Running the mile back after working herself silly somehow always went easier than walking the mile to. 

And while Earthgirl wasn’t a great cook Lapis didn’t mind. Anything was a wonder when you’ve eaten nothing but dehydrated bars for years. Besides, getting to watch from a bar stool as Earthgirl lazily stirred a pot, speaking lowly and sweetly in the dim yellow lights, was more than enough compensation for the occasionally burnt potsticker. It was astronomically better than whatever it was she would have been doing, speaking about, over dinner on sight. 

Instead of bickering over efficiencies, how to improve everything and anything that had been wrong with the ship before, not just the coolant issue, she got to sit side by side with Earthgirl, laughing and lazily working through easy anecdotes, most of them revolving around the stars. 

Earthgirl would ask about the constellations, or the planets, or far off galaxies, and even when she knew the answers, Lapis could tell from the way she stared, she kept asking. She wanted to know everything. How navigating in antigravity was, what takeoff felt like, how moving around and eating and showering was. She asked for the details, the hows and whys and difficulties and blessing and shortcomings and excitements. But mostly she just wanted to listen, at least Lapis was so told one evening as they wrapped up dinner and ended up together in Earthgirl’s bedroom. 

She plugged in those star shaped string lights and hopped into bed next to Lapis when they had finished, letting her hand brush not so subtly against Lapis’s as they sat, and asked her to describe what the stars looked like from space. It was her favorite question, she asked it a lot, but Lapis never minded another shot. She found that no matter how hard she tried she could never find the right words. The second chances were well appreciated. 

It was then that Peridot told her, as Lapis’s description, closer but still not quite enough, tampered off; how she didn’t mind the rambling, didn’t always care for the details, just liked to hear. By then she had cuddled her head into Lapis’s neck, leaning into her fully as she wrapped the blanket around them. 

She had muttered it wistfully, the sound just barely muddled by sleep, but from the way her words slipped out, soft and slow, Lapis could tell they were genuine.

Lapis looked down at her as best she could when she was lying practically on top of her, ruffling her hair as she went, “Yeah?”

Earthgirl smiled, adjusting her gaze too so they could stare eye to eye, “Yeah,” she muttered, “You can tell how much you love it. Your voice smooths like it doesn’t anytime else. I could listen to it forever,”

And despite herself Lapis felt herself flushing, growing warm around the edges as Earthgirl smiled up at her, such a genuine look in her eyes. It was frankly a bit overwhelming. 

It had been a long time since Lapis had felt this way about anything. Certainly _anyone_. Perhaps Earthgirl was the only thing she had ever felt remotely near this fully about before other than space.

She had had crushes before. A few here and there, on a cheerleader or her dentist or the math teacher’s daughter, but none of them had ever felt anything like this. She couldn’t bear it. 

It left her feeling so big, larger than life in a fantastic yet terrifying capacity. Like she could rebuild the whole ship on her own or, even better, like she could simply just jump to Mars if she felt like it. It left her feeling warm around the edges, hot like a ship with a leak in the coolant tank, hot like the rush of falling to her potential death, hot in a dangerous and exhilarating, overpowering sort of way. It left her feeling giddy and bouncing with excitement like she hadn’t felt since she was a kid, reading science fiction books in the elementary school library and boldly declaring that she was going to be an astronaut when she grew up. It felt like doing it, becoming one, going to space, even when no one else believed she could. 

But somehow it felt like more than even all of that combined. 

It was more than she knew how to deal with, more than she had ever dealt with before, and before she knew it she was moving. She cupped Peridot’s cheeks in her hands and dipped her head low so they could connect at the lips. 

It felt like waking up and realizing she was still alive. It felt like looking up into the face of a pretty blonde girl, reaching down to pull her out of the rubble. It felt like _life_ for what she could imagine was the first time in her life. 

But, somehow, more than that too. 

When the pair pulled away Earthgirl laughed, the sound high and bold and excited. Lapis’s chest matched the ring of the tune. 

**

> Dear Earthgirl,
> 
> I lied in my last letter; everything was not falling apart quite yet. It certainly is now, though. 
> 
> The capitan is starting to agree with them. Or at least she’s getting tired of fighting. We’ve been lingering, stopped completely, on the edge of the solar system for a few days now. She’s ordering we ignore the mainframe though. They’re going to think we’ve died soon. 
> 
> She keeps making us have these terrible meetings which go on for hours, this last one was well over eight and only ended up finishing because Janet started crying in the middle of a screaming match.
> 
> The captain is still saying that she doesn’t think we should turn back, that we were given objectives and orders and should be lucky to get to be here in the first place, but she sympathizes with them when the whine about missing home, cry about how being on Earth but not stopping wherever to see whoever upset them. 
> 
> She’s trying to pretend to be an unbiased third party but each time one of them starts getting upset she just looks at me with this look, like I’m the irrational one. I don’t understand what they’re all freaking out for. It's not like I went home either.
> 
> In any case I’ve got to go, they’re calling me back again. Wish me luck (or else wish me a quick death).
> 
> Wish I was with you instead,
> 
> Spacegirl

**

They fell at once into a very boisterous romance. It moved quick, sprinting like a giddy teenager through the halls of their high school, as they went from kisses to date nights to reciting love poetry in the bathroom rapidly. 

Lapis was normally not the type to rush something like this (although, admittedly, she hadn’t had many opportunities to have ever done so) but their relationship was on a bit of a time shortage. 

Still, Lapis tried not to think about that when she was with her and, luckily, it was easy to forget. 

Earthgirl was amazing. Truly. 

Her tenacity for everything, her work ethic, enough to attend school full time while simultaneously building a rocket ship and feeding and housing a stowaway, was so inspiring, her vivacious attitude, enough to leave her asking time and time again for details about the stars and the planets and the sun, so charming, and her smile, big and bold and intrinsically beautiful, intoxicating. She walked like Lapis had always wanted to; with so much love for everything that nothing could touch her. Not even this shitty planet. She was pretty and shiny and loud in just the right way. And Lapis realized a bit too late that maybe things weren’t just moving fast because they were running out of time, although they certainly were, but because they were falling in love. The both of them. Hard. 

She realized it late one evening, long after work and dinner and Earthgirl’s millions of questions. Long after Earthgirl had dozed off, cuddled deep into Lapis’s chest and breathing gently against her side. Long after Lapis normally would have been asleep herself. 

But as she played with Earthgirl’s hair, musing to herself about all that had happened in such a short time, she couldn’t sleep. Because she realized it. 

She was in love. 

It had been happening for a while, was that little feeling she had yet to isolate before then, warm and shiny like molten gold, bright and beaming like a far off sun. And she was only just now realizing it. 

She jerked a little. Earthgirl roused in her grip and as she gently awoke Lapis felt the weight of her nerves sitting hot in her chest. 

“You okay?” Earthgirl murmured as she started to rise. She rubbed at her eyes with balled up hands, tucked in a little ball herself against Lapis’s chest. The faint light from the moon dressed her, the window hug just perfectly to let it in, leave gleams of silver running down the highs of her nose, cheekbones, and the sight of it, her bathing in the moonlight, coupled with the way she huddled in herself, trying and failing to wave away her sleep, was intrinsic. Peridot could have shifted galaxies with her beauty if she wanted to.

The panic eased away. 

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Lapis replied, reaching down the scratch briefly at Earthgirl’s scalp, who groaned her sleepy appreciation in response, “Just thinking,”

Earthgirl yawned loudly, nodding with closed eyes as she tucked herself a bit tighter into Lapis’s chest. Lapis’s heart did a somersault before it melted entirely, “Good thoughts?” she asked gently. 

Lapis smiled, growing a little teary despite herself. What a very _Peridot_ thing to ask, “Yeah. Very good thoughts,”

“Oh,” Earthgirl smiled, the tune of her happiness the first to breach the groggy-ness of her voice. Still, she only buried herself further into Lapis’s chest with a sigh, “Tell me about it in the morning?”

Lapis nodded, her heart beating happily as she decided that she would. She would, she would, she would and she couldn’t wait, “I will,”

And she did. Bright and early, before they had left to work on the ship, the next day. 

Because even when normally she would have waited months, years maybe, to give away such important words they were running out of time. And, truthfully, Lapis felt them so strongly that she couldn’t have stopped herself even if she had tried. 

Peridot cried when Lapis told her. Lapis cried back. But even when they had to rush to compose themselves so they could make it to the camp on time Lapis noticed they both worked with a smile throughout the day. And once they had left that evening, away from the judging ears of the crew, a million little ‘I love you’s we’re swapped back and forth. 

To be quite honest Lapis thought they were well overdue. 

**

> Dear Earthgirl,
> 
> It’s beginning to look more and more like I really will be coming back after all, if only to drop them back off. The captain is returning to the ship, at least she’s saying she is, but she changed the course towards Earth. She said nothing is decided for sure yet, she keeps trying to get me to budge, but I’m not an idiot. I know what that redirection means. My budging, or not, it isn't going to matter either way anymore. 
> 
> It will probably be a good thing, though, they are angry with me, even her, and I am angry with them, but it’s still irritating. I suppose the real upside will be that I can see you again. 
> 
> I’ll let you know if they ever tell me definitively that we’re coming back, or more accurately which base I’ll be landing at, so I can come for a visit. It’ll be harder this time because if all goes well we won’t be crashing in your backyard this time but I’ll find a way. 
> 
> Miss you,
> 
> Spacegirl

**

They finished the ship late in the night only a few evenings later. Peridot was asleep when Lapis woke to the incessant pigning of her team. She had unraveled herself from Peridot’s arms, wiggling out from her grip gently, so as not to wake her, and felt her heart skipping out of her chest when she read the message. 

It was done. Apparently they had continued work after dinner, antsy to be finished with it since they were so close. And they were leaving in only two hours. 

Lapis was frantic, scrambling out of bed feeling more rushed and frazzled than she ever had before. She pulled her shoes on, brushed her hair, grabbed her things, and began to rush outside. 

She was halfway out the door before she remembered Peridot. Still asleep in her bed within the expanse of her house. 

Lapis turned on her heels, looking back into the house with a sinking feeling in her chest, but was interrupted by another ping. 

_90 minutes. Need your help now!!_

She frowned, biting back the upset as she rushed out the door. At least this way she wouldn’t have to be upset saying goodbye. She wouldn’t have to say it at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No I did not research ANYTHING about astronaut or spaceships or anything like before writing this fic. Yes it is extremely unrealistic in every way. But it has ~pink vibes~ and that was literally all I cared about when I wrote it  
> Anywayyyy this IS a fluff story and I promise the next chapter will end happily. But what is fluff without a little pain beforehand? That said I am not quite sure when the next chapter will be out. Hopefully very very soon but I will be working on a project with some harsh deadlines over the next couple months so we shall see.  
> In any case I hope you enjoyed this! This was some of the most fun I have had writing fic in a while and I hope that paid off. If you did like it PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave me a comment! And have an amazing Valentine's day!!!


	2. Dear Spacegirl,

> Dear Earthgirl,
> 
> I’ll be on Earth again in a month. We will be landing at the headquarters outside of Cape Canary. They don’t have a replacement crew ready for me yet but I don’t care. I don’t want them. And I’m not waiting for them. Even if they  really won’t be happy about it. 
> 
> I can’t do it on my own, though. No matter how much experience I have, a spaceship needs more than one pair of hands to run. Would you come with me? It’ll be a hell of a heist to get it back up (and honestly it probably takes way more than two sets of hands to run a ship) but once we go they can’t really stop us. 
> 
> I understand if you don’t want to but I would love for you to. I miss you. 
> 
> But mostly, I wanna show you the stars. Finally. 
> 
> Love, Spacegirl

***

The last thing Peridot ever would have expected when she glanced out of her window while cooking dinner, wondering about the weather, was to see a rocket ship hurdling out of the sky. 

It was far enough away, in that second, that she had a moment to react, brace herself, duck down below her counter, before it collided with the Earth but the sound of it alone was enough to leave her falling completely to the floor, let alone the way the ground rocked and shook at the force of the impact. She only had just enough time to realize that the house hadn’t collapsed, she was still alive, before she was on her feet. She ran until she reached the ship, 911 on the phone in her hand all the while. 

The operator was trying to get her to leave, run the other way, past her home, past town, as far as she could get in the opposite direction in as little time as she could manage. They weren’t sure if the ship would explode yet, she insisted, begging and screaming at her through the metal of her cell phone. But Peridot ignored her, dropping the thing into her pocket, the sound of her shouting a distant buzzing in the background. There were people on there, people were on that ship. She couldn’t leave them.  _ Especially  _ if the ship was going to explode. 

She had already found three of them by the time the ambulances arrived. Two she had dug out, were breathing but fully unconscious but the third had looked up at her, dazed and smiling, somehow, from the rubble she sat upon. 

“Earthgirl?” she had asked weakly up at her and Peridot couldn’t help but laugh. It was hardly the response she had been expecting. 

Peridot mostly stuck with her, as the EMTs took over, and she used the semi-conscious girl as intel, asking how many crew they had in total. Where they might have been in the ship at the time of the crash. 

And while she was clearly concussed and excessively loopy she had led them to all of them. Had led the EMTs in the right direction to dig them all out, all still alive and breathing, if pretty banged up. Peridot felt her chest beaming with pride. She had done it; she had saved them all. And she didn’t even know it yet. 

Although that warm feeling, the excitement for this dazed little astronaut, Spacegirl she had started calling her in her head, for rescuing her crew was dropped at once when the EMTs loaded up without her. The lot of them rushing away with her crew and leaving Peridot with the short, blunt explanation of, “She’s the best off. She’ll be okay,”

It was criminal. Outrageous. Infuriating. She had saved them all, led the EMTs to the rest of them so they could be shipped off to the hospital, so that they could be treated, and in return those useless paramedics were gonna leave her here to quite possibly die. 

Peridot was just glad she was a medical student. She would save Spacegirl, just as she had saved her crew. 

**

> Dear Spacegirl,
> 
> I know you don’t want me to try so instead I will state: the only way that we’d end is if you were sucked into a black hole. But even then, I’d still spend my days thinking about you. 
> 
> Aside from that I’ll save it for now, while I am upset with you and want to do nothing more than urge and beg and cry until you come back I understand why you left the way you did. I’ll have plenty of time, if you really do insist that you will spend the rest of your days in the stars, to convince you otherwise. 
> 
> In the meantime I’ll merely ask you how it is? I always wanted to see home from afar, see the stars from a bit closer. I know you’ve seen it before, you’ve told me about it too many times to count, but I can’t help but wonder. Is it just as beautiful as you remembered? Is it any different? Does it lose its charm the second time around? I wish I could see it for myself. 
> 
> Write again soon! Or else risk me breaking my promise earlier than anticipated with a sappy ‘come home soon’ note!
> 
> With love and understanding, Earthgirl. 

**

Spacegirl was more than loopy as Peridot walked her home. She sung off key to songs Peridot had never heard before and laughed her way through the woods until eventually her own voice became too loud and she broke down crying at the noise. Peridot grumbled as she dragged her the three quarters of a mile back to her home, the little astronaut still too loopy to safely walk on her own, her heart still pounding anxiously from the excitement and stress of it all, her mind still swirling from the awful decision. Still, she tried to huff it off; telling herself that at least she was glad for the experience. She could deal with a concussion. It would be good practice. Spacegirl would be okay. Still, as she finally dragged her in the front door it was hard not to feel the anger of dragging her alone through the woods when she should be in a hospital easing.

Although the anger doubled. Like some sick joke, Spacegirl stopped her squirming at once when they stepped inside. Lurching forward and onto her feet, out of Peridot’s arms, to instead marvel with unfocused eyes at the décor. 

“Stars,” she mumbled woozily, pointing to the glow in the dark stickers Peridot had placed copiously on the living room ceiling. Peridot grabbed her again, not trusting her ability to stand on her own, even if she wished she did, and led her by the arm to the couch with a begrudging smile. Despite the little festering coil of annoyance which sat in her chest, the anger at the EMTs, the frustration at her sudden ability to stand on her own after the long walk back, the reaction was undeniably cute. 

“Yes,” she murmured back, trying to keep her voice low so as not to hurt her head, “Stars,”

The girl laughed as she fell onto the cushions of the couch, closing her eyes and covering them with her arm as she went. Peridot moved quickly to turn off the lights, draw the curtains, at the reaction. 

“I’ve seen the stars,” Spacegirl giggled on the couch all the while, “They’re my favorite thing,”

Peridot stared at her from across the now dark room, her heart doing a nervous somersault despite herself, “I’m sure it’s beautiful,”

“Mmhmm” the girl hummed contently, smiling up at the ceiling, reaching with her arms up for it, before her words trailed off, her arms fell. Peridot only had time to reach her, panicked that something had happened, before she started snoring. 

**

> Dear Spacegirl, 
> 
> Show me the stars! You know how they capture my heart! Send your pictures soon or else I will start begging you to come home, I’ll even send you a picture of my puppy dog eyes. 
> 
> It’s sad to hear that they aren’t as pretty the second run around, although I guess I can sympathize with your relief that it allows you to get your work done. Sounds awful boring though, I’d rather you spent all your time writing to me while staring out the window, trying to get the words right. 
> 
> How is the crew?
> 
> Kisses, Earthgirl

**

All things considered Spacegirl recovered ridiculously quickly. Within only a few days she was speaking smoothly, was not hiding from the light, and was, despite Peridot’s wishes and insistence, up on her feet. 

For a few days she tried, on and off, to work on the ship. Would rush off into the woods, Peridot nervously following on her heels, to scavenge for parts, pull out useful pieces of scrap metal. She tried to convince Peridot to let her stay there, at the sight of the crash, spoke of trying to help her crew preemptively by picking up the pieces while they recovered, of wanting to busy herself with work, of wanting to get off Earth again as soon as she could, but Peridot would always drag her back. 

“You’ve done plenty to help them already,” she would tell her, as she grabbed her by the arm, “You saved their lives! And besides, you’re still concussed yourself,” 

Luckily Spacegirl didn’t seem to argue much, at least not after the first couple of days, and instead she would follow Peridot back to her home readily. Asking, as they walked, entered the door, sat in the, still dimly lit, living room, about Peridot. 

**

> Dear Spacegirl, 
> 
> I’m sorry about the crew and you will notice how much restraint I exhibit to mention that before what I’m sure you know comes next. Come home. Let them come back and swoop me up instead. 
> 
> She me the stars! For real this time! Steal the ship and leave them all behind. 
> 
> It would be just the two of us, like before but better because now you won’t have to try to describe it anymore. I’ll know. 
> 
> Or, as I suppose you’ll want me to say instead, at least try to calm them down. Don’t get upset, remember that they spent all their time back home on Earth working in the woods and not with the cute girl that saved their life. 
> 
> I really do hope things start to turn around soon, I’m sure you’ll be able to talk them out of their homesickness; the way you describe the stars could convince anyone to want to be among them. 
> 
> Good luck,
> 
> Earthgirl

**

By the time her crew was back on their feet they were close friends. 

They had been spending an exceptional amount of time together, more and more as, without her crew to help, Spacegirl gave up in scavenging for more parts and, in turn, they had gotten to know each other quite well. They spent their days sat together on the couch, swapping stories of their very different career paths, Lapis speaking about training and physicals and takeoff while helping Peridot study for her midterms, holding up notes and pointing to different muscles on diagrams. Peridot always found it hard to keep her focus on studying when she helped her, though. She wanted to listen too much. So she was glad, at least, that they spent their evenings doing nothing but talking. 

By then the tireless distraction of school would be gone, her homework for the day completed, or at least pushed off to the side, so that Lapis would have nothing to distract her from. She could talk. Freely. And if she didn’t start on her own Peridot would ask. 

She had always wanted to be an astronaut. Since she was a little kid, looking at pictures of stars in the library, memorizing the names of planets and stars and galaxies far off from the books she rented. As she grew up, dancing through middle school and high school with a sort of hopeful blindness. Confident, as she poured her way through science fiction books, elective astronomy classes, that she, despite her plethora of ailments and lack of athletic ability, would get to the stars one day. 

Realizing, late into her senior year, that she was wrong was upsetting. A physical which showed that she had not yet grown out of her asthma, was developing a bad knee and an even worse back, a kick in the gut. She was just glad, as crushed as she had been, that her science elective of the year, anatomy, had been almost as interesting. 

But even still, even when she had thrown herself into medicine and found that she genuinely loved it, the pull of space had never let go of her. She still cursed her asthma and watched sci-fi movies, read the autobiographies of every astronaut who had written one. She still borrowed astronomy books from the library, still took notes on old, beat up notebooks. She still daydreamed about being an astronaut, sitting so high above the Earth and watching as the stars twinkled besides her.

Having Lapis here now, pretty little Spacegirl who had fallen from the stars into her backyard, to tell her about it first hand was more than a blessing. 

She asked about everything she could think to ask about and then some. She prodded and asked for stories until Lapis began repeating some, shaking her head as she struggled to think of anything new. But Lapis assured her she didn’t mind.

Instead she would simply pull Peridot closer into her side and laugh, glad to try and describe it all again. She always insisted she wasn’t doing it justice, the real stars and what they were like from up close, and Peridot couldn’t imagine, hearing that, what they must actually be like. Because, even if Lapis’s descriptions were hardly poetry, maybe didn’t say much of anything in the end, the way she spoke certainly did. 

She rhapsodized with so much love, genuine and wholehearted and vehemently passionate, that Peridot was overwhelmed. She spoke like the stars were the most important thing in the universe, like nothing could or ever would matter a fraction as much as they did. She moved through sentences, words, paragraphs, with such a delicate, overwhelmed, bold sort of passion. Tight and specific and massively looming all at the same time. 

If that, Lapis’s descriptions, didn’t describe the true impressiveness of it, Peridot could hardly imagine how overwhelming they  _ really  _ were. 

Peridot always tried to tell her, tell her just how astonishing her descriptions were, but every time she had the opportunity she found herself a bit too caught up in the moment to do so. So flustered by the intensity of Spacegirl, her fiery, passionate speech, her bold, tanned face, her gentle, warm touch as they sat side by side, that she could hardly articulate her thoughts. Instead all she usually managed to say was, “Wow,”

And when Lapis laughed, gentle and hearty and perfect, insisting she had hardly done it any justice at all, the feeling would increase triplefold. 

The first time Peridot managed to say it, tell her how marvelous she was when she spoke, she was shaking with nerves and excitement all the same but Spacegirl didn’t seem to notice. Instead she simply smiled, gentle and kind, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Peridot repeated, her insides spinning shades of pink, “You can tell how much you love it. Your voice smooths like it doesn’t anytime else. I could listen to it forever,”

And Lapis, perfect, gorgeous, marvelous Lapis blushed. 

Peridot thought she might pass out at the sight, how wildly excited and big it made her feel. Lapis, cool, suave, astronaut Lapis blushed at her. At her! At Peridot! It was a miracle she didn’t die.

But, in the end, she was more surprised she didn’t die when Lapis leaned down to kiss her, her touch as big and small and overwhelming and calming and astonishing as her nightly speeches. 

**

> Dear Spacegirl,
> 
> I wish it was me there with you instead of them, too. They’re stupid if they want to waste their time in space bickering about coming back. I know I would give anything to walk among them, dance my way through the stars. 
> 
> I know this is hardly any consolation but your description made me happy. I miss getting to sit with you and hear you talk about the stars. Your writing, while beautiful, doesn’t quite have the same charm as getting to sit next to you and listen (likely because I can’t see your face). I miss your company in the evenings. It’s been so lonely, and so so so boring, without you. All I do  anymore is sit alone, eating boxed mac and cheese, wondering how you would describe the stars to me that night. No matter how hard I try I can’t seem to get your voice right. 
> 
> They really are foolish for missing out on how lucky they are, for sitting there bickering about going home. I’d give anything to swap with them, and not just because they get to spend all day everyday with you. 
> 
> At least you’ll enjoy it, promise me you’ll spend at least three hours a day staring at the stars for me, despite their foolishness. Hopefully you can change their minds but if not I’ll be happy to see you again, even if only temporarily. I love you and miss you very, very much. 
> 
> Still waiting for my pictures!
> 
> Earthgirl

**

Peridot realized she was in love far too late considering how strongly she had been feeling for a while. So much so that when she finally  _ did  _ realize it she felt very foolish. So foolish she forgot to process what she had realized in full until much later in the evening. 

For much of the day, after that early morning when the word had popped into her brain, love, she had simply scolded herself. How obvious it was only for her to just be realizing it now, she would shake her head. How silly she was for having never realized it before then. As they worked on the ship, dancing around the crew, stocking old food supplies and screwing on paneling, she scolded herself, embarrassed and glad no one else could hear her thoughts, realize how foolish and behind the curve she was. Of course she was in love. Clearly. 

It was only when they had just arrived back home, hand in hand, and Lapis stood loudly pondering over what they should eat for dinner when it hit her. What that meant. Only when Lapis crossed the kitchen, leaving a gentle kiss atop Peridot’s forehead, when she realized the full weight of it. 

She was in love. Like,  _ love  _ love. Like not just some childhood crush anymore. Not just like her pleasant little girlfriend who she enjoyed hanging out with. Love. The real deal. 

God she really  _ was  _ foolish, and not just for not having realized it earlier. 

It was big, Peridot had never been in love before, not with anything human, not in any way remotely comparable to this, but it was undeniable; it was very, very large. And as she watched, feeling very flustered, Lapis dig through the fridge, ruffling through the vegetable drawer, she felt vaguely panicked. 

Surely it was too soon for that. Right? 

Lapis has only been around for a few months, they had only been together like this for a few weeks. Surely she shouldn’t feel so strongly about her yet. But when Lapis spun around, a bushel of lettuce held tight in her hand, and cried out “I can at the very least make salads,” she pushed the feeling away. 

It would have been impossible for her to have not fallen in love with Lapis, as charming and pretty and entrancing as she was, and on their time frame, the ship looking more and more like a real spaceship each day, she was glad it had happened so quickly. She was quickly becoming less sure of how long she had left with her. She would rather spend it in love now than never get the opportunity to later. 

It was hard to bite back the upset when she remembered that, the jealousy and anger and desire to beg and plead and cry at her until she agreed to never leave, but Lapis was always quick to turn it around. Tuck a piece of hair behind her ear and rhapsodize about how much she missed the stars and working among them. Kiss her cheek and reinvent shades of purple and blue with her words. Hold her hand and talk until the pain washed away, too in love to hurt and too confident that this was what Lapis needed to do to try and stop her. Because no matter how much she would have liked her to stay Lapis belonged in the stars. She was her Spacegirl but more than just that. She was  _ a  _ Spacegirl; true to her nickname. Peridot couldn’t pull her from the stars. She needed to be among them. 

So she washed the worry of time away by spending the evenings glued to her side, listening and listening and listening until Lapis was tired of talking. And then she would kiss her until they both were too tired to do anything but fall into each other's arms, fast asleep beneath a ceiling full of glow in the dark stars. 

It always worked well enough. More than well enough. 

Although it grew a bit easier when Peridot discovered, early in the morning one day, that the feeling was not hers alone. Lapis too, as she had told her, voice wavering slightly but hands sturdy, felt it. 

“I love you,” she had spoken softly, “and I-“

But Peridot was too excited. She jumped up and pulled her face into hers with a giddy little cry. When they separated she had tears already streaming down her face. 

“I love you too!”

And Spacegirl laughed, the sound just as beautiful as her own descriptions of the stars. 

**

> Dear Spacegirl,
> 
> Sounds like you’ll be coming home? I’ll try to be nice and say what you want of me first; I’m sorry. And I  am , I swear it to you. It’s terrible that they can’t pull themselves back together and realize how wonderful they have it. So many people would love to swap with them. I  would love to swap with them. 
> 
> But I am also hopeful and glad that maybe, if you can’t manage to sway their minds once and for all, I’ll be seeing you again soon. I’ve been missing you terribly since you left, your laughter and your face and the stories you tell. Life feels so empty without them, you. If you do come home I’ll be so happy to hug you again that I promise I will forget to pretend to at all be sad that you’re back on Earth. You’ll have to forgive me but I know you’ll get back out there soon enough to make up for it. 
> 
> Miss you! Fingers crossed! For both outcomes!
> 
> Earthgirl

**

But being in love certainly didn’t lessen the pain of waking up in the morning to an empty bed. In fact it made it sting a lot worse. 

She had tried not to panic as she rose, suddenly jolted from her sleep by something, although what she could not recall, seeing that the spot next to her was left empty, the door ajar. Maybe Lapis was simply cooking breakfast, a rarity but something she tried every once and a while. Maybe she wanted to surprise her before they headed off to the ship. Maybe she just had to pee. Maybe anything. She could be doing  _ anything _ . 

But even when Peridot slowly rose from bed, trying to calm her heavily beating heart, she knew it wasn’t the case. She could feel it. They had been so close to finishing. She had known it would only be a few more days for a while now. 

The house was empty and as she walked, slowly, hopefully, through the woods she found them empty to. A check of the news confirmed it. The crashed crew had made a successful launch in the middle of the night. Were safe in the sky and working their way back to the mission they had been on when they had fallen back to the Earth. Peridot had only read the headline before she threw her phone across the room. 

Lapis hadn’t said goodbye. 

She hadn’t woken her up. Hadn’t hugged her and wished her fair well. She hadn’t said anything. 

Peridot’s chest burned and she wished for more things to throw but instead all she could do was sit, surprised to find she couldn’t cry. Instead she stared straight ahead, into the empty room, with a heavy, hurting loathing. 

There were stars everywhere.

**

> Dear Spacegirl,
> 
> You’re serious? I don’t know what to say other than I hope these emails aren’t monitored. But, on the assumption they are and you aren’t kidding me, yes yes a million times yes. 
> 
> You always knew that would be my answer, though.
> 
> Earthgirl

**

The letters had been a surprise. A check of her email, expecting nothing but notifications of grades and reminders of bills, had left her with something unexpected. An email from a government account. An email sent from space. An email from Lapis. Signed Spacegirl. 

For the first time since Lapis had left Peridot cried. 

**

Watching the ship land, the right way, was impressive. Especially after having spent so much time watching it being built. Especially after having watched it fall from the sky

She was not the only one who felt that way. People all around were watching, cheering, even if the mission had not technically been completed. As the crew exited it was like superheroes had entered the room the way they all shouted. Lapis was the second to last to exit, the only one with a nervous frown on her face as she stepped off the ship and onto the ground. Back on Earth again.

It took ages to get to her. She had work to do now that she was home, arrangements to make, meetings to attend, but when, finally, she exited the building, hours and hours later, Peridot suddenly didn’t mind anymore. She launched herself at her full speed. 

Lapis had laughed, “Woah there, Earthgirl,” swaying dramatically with the force, “Don’t got my land legs back yet,” but she wrapped Peridot close to her, picking her up in her arms and twirling her around all the same. Peridot simply cried, smiling through her tears, before pulling Lapis’s face into her own. 

“I missed you,” she mumbled through her tears when they had separated, Lapis still holding her high in her arms. 

Lapis frowned, wiping at Peridot’s cheeks, “I missed you, too. I’m not leaving you behind again,”

Peridot smiled, leaning further down into her, “Good,”

**

Lapis wasn’t lying when she said sneaking off on their own with the ship would be an impossible feat and yet somehow, miraculously, they managed to get on board alone. 

It had taken hours of waiting, Lapis keeping tabs on where everyone was, what flights the crew were on, where her bosses and the guards and everyone else were stationed. It was such a feat, in fact, that Peridot only realized that it was really happening, that she was, if all went well, going into space with Lapis, when she was on board. 

She had been on the ship quite a few times by then, she had helped rebuild it after all, but something about being on it now, when Lapis held her hand and rushed to the control room, felt suddenly awe inspiring. It was big and white and technical. Impressive, looming. Peridot wished she had brought her decorations from home to liven the place up a bit. But she didn’t have time to ponder on the thought long, Lapis pulled her through the ship so fast she could hardly keep up.

When they arrived it was overwhelming and the full weight of it finally did come crashing down on Peridot. Lapis didn’t need much help, told Peridot exactly what to press and when and how when she did, but it was still a lot. Still scary. Still a sudden weighty realization. She was leaving. She was going to space. For real. 

Like she had wanted to do since she was a little kid. Although this was better because now she was with Lapis, Spacegirl. Although, she supposed with a smile, she too would be Spacegirl after this. No more Earthgirl among them. 

Peridot laughed to herself as Lapis finished, and rushed to grab Peridot, pull her to her seat where she strapped her heavily to the wall. 

Before she got down herself she smirked, pressing a gentle kiss on her lips, “You ready, Earthgirl?”

Peridot gave a nervous chuckle, “Full of unwarned confidence,”

Lapis smiled, pulling herself down into her own seat and strapping herself in, “Good. It’s the only way to get through it,”

**

Takeoff was a lot. Peridot wasn’t sure she would make it but, after what felt like eons, the shaking, the force, the pressure stopped and stilled. The weight eased and then dissipated entirely. And Lapis laughed besides her, unclasping herself with a chuckle before pulling over to help Peridot. 

“You ready?” Lapis smiled down at her excitedly, all the while. 

Peridot pouted, “For?”

Lapis laughed, eyebrows warping in perplexed confusion, “To see them. The stars,”

Peridot felt her heart pounding in her ears and she rushed on shaky legs after Lapis. 

The first time Earthgirl saw the stars was with Spacegirl holding her hand, staring out the window with her. The first time Earthgirl saw the stars she cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh i forgot to keep adding lyrics into the letters after the third one or something but i hope you don’t mind!! Also, again, I researched literally NOTHING for this so keep that in mind hehe.  
> I really hope you liked this fic! I had such a blast writing it and I am glad I finished it so fast. Gonna be frank, this is probably gonna be my last su fic which is sad but I am glad its ending on a happy, complete one. Who knows, maybe i'll come back to this fandom someday but with the fandom dwindling I think it's time to semi-definitively move on. I will miss these fools, though. I have spent many, many words with them and will forever love them to pieces.  
> That said! I really do hope you like this fic! PLEASE PLEASE leave me a comment! And have a beautiful, amazing, wonderful day!


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